Chinese name

Chinese personal names follow a number of conventions different from those of Western personal names. Most noticeably, a Chinese name is written with the surname first and the given name second. For instance, the basketball player Yao Ming is Mr. Yao, not Mr. Ming.

Forms of address

Within families, adults are rarely referred to by their given names. Rather, the relationship is stressed, so each member is known by this connection. Thus, there is big sister, second sister, third sister and so on. These connections are also distinguished by what side of the family they are on (mother or father's side) and the generation gap between the two family members. Generally speaking though, the family title is only used when the relative being called is older than caller. It is considered highly inappropriate and sometimes extremely offensive if a person from a younger generation calls someone from an older generation by his/her given name. Younger relatives are normally only called by their relational title in formal situations. Children can be called by their given name, or their parents may use their nickname.

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When speaking of non-family social acquaintances, people are generally referred to by a title, for example Mother Li (???, ???) or the Wife of Zhu (???). Personal names are used when referring to adult friends or to children. It is common to refer to a person as lao (?, old) or xiao (?, young) followed by their family name, thus Lao Wang (??) or Xiao Zhang (??, ??). Note that because old people are well respected in Chinese society, lao (old) does not carry disrespect, offense or any negative implications even if it's used to refer to an older woman.

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